liARLEV. 



table world. It bears the heat and 

 drought of tropical regions, and ri- 

 pens in the short summers of those 

 which verge on the frigid zone. In 

 genial climates two crops of barley 

 may be reaped in the same year : one 

 in spring, from seed sown the prece- 

 ding autumn, and one in autumn from 

 a spring sowing. 



Agricultural writers in general 

 have distinguished the different spe- 

 cies of barley, either from the time 

 of sowing them, into winter barley 

 and spring barley, or, from the num- 

 ber of rows of grains in the ears, into 

 six-rowed, four-rowed, and two-row- 

 ed or flat barley. Another distinction 

 may be made between those which 

 have the corolla strongly adhering to 

 the seed and those in which it separ- 

 ates from it, leaving the seed naked, 

 from which circumstance these are 

 called naked barleys. There seem, 

 in fact, to be only two very distinct 

 species of barley generally cultiva- 

 ted : one which produces three per- 

 fect flowers, and as many seeds uni- 

 ted at the base, at each joint of the 

 rachis, or middle of the ear, alternate- 

 ly on each side (Fig. 1) ; and another, 

 in which the middle flowret is perfect 

 and the two others barren, forming a 

 flat ear, with only one row of grains 

 on each side, as spring barley (Fig. 

 2). The first species has sometimes 

 the middle flowret small or abortive, 

 and consequently only four rows of 

 grains, giving the ear a square ap- 

 pearance ; but that this is only an 

 occasional deviation is proved by its 

 returning to the perfect ear with six 

 rows, in rich soils and under proper 

 cultivation. 



In some varieties of both kinds the 

 seeds stand more apart from each 

 other, and at a greater angle with the 

 rachis ; the ear is also shorter, giv- 

 ing it the appearance of a bat or i'an, 

 whence it has been called Battledore 

 barley ; it is also known by the name 

 of Sprat barley. In others the co- 

 rolla separates from the seed when 

 ripe, and the awns fall off: these are 

 the naked barleys. Each of these 

 has been in repute at different times. 



Winter barley is mostly sown in 



Fig. 2. 



a. An ear of common spring barley. 



b. The same, with the grain partly pulled off. 

 d. The single gram, with the remnant of the 



two abortive flowers. 



those countries where the winters 

 are mild and the springs dry, as in 

 the south of France, Italy, and Spain, 

 or in those where the snow lies deep 

 all the winter, and where the sun is 

 powerful immediately after the melt- 

 ing of the snow in spring. In cli- 

 mates where the winter consists of 

 alternate frost and thaws, and the 

 early part of spring is usually wet, 

 the young barley is too apt to suf- 

 fer from these vicissitudes, and the 

 spring-sown barley gives the more 

 certain prospect of a good crop ; but 



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